Y were we only allowed into the heaven 2000 yrs ago?

Im a confirmed Roman Catholic, but there is one thing about the life and death of Jesus that I dont understand and know1 has ever been able to give me a plausible or well balanced answer.

Heres what has been troubling me.

Jesus was tortured and killed becuase he bore the burden of mans sins, and in doing so opened up the gates of heaven to us from that point on till present day.....but why that point in time?

Humans had been around for a lot longer than that. It just gets to me that, thousands and millions of people who lived before this event and time, were deliberatley kept out of heaven. Look at Isaiah and king david and others in the old testament.....were they bad people? And if they werent bad people, how could a loving god let these people, his people, die knowing that their souls will not enter heaven???????
I guess I cant understand why so many people such as the Aztecs, Mayans, and such other great civilisations were kept out of heaven simply because they were born before the date of jesus death? God himself knew that know1 could enter heaven without Jesus sacrifice and love, for know one enters heaven except through him. So why did he wait for so many thousand years before he set in motion the events that would allow us passage into heaven?

Im no theologan, so any comments are very welcome, even the bad ones hehehehe

Originally posted by radiant_obsidian
Jesus was tortured and killed becuase he bore the burden of mans sins, and in doing so opened up the gates of heaven to us from that point on till present day.....but why that point in time?

Actually, it was opened to those of the Jewish faith before then. This is canon in all the Christian beliefs.

I guess I cant understand why so many people such as the Aztecs, Mayans,

Actually, they didn't arise until AFTER the death of Jesus. The pre-Jesus civilizations would include the Egyptians, Babylonians, Sumerians, Greeks, Romans (to some degree) plus all of the civilizations in North America and Asia. There's a lot of people.

This is one of those answers that there IS no theological agreement on. When I asked about heaven (as a child) I was told that it was open only if you believed in God. Since the ones telling me at that time could argue that many civilizations believed in a Supreme Being (as I grew older, I learned that this wasn't entirely true) that the good people there would go to heaven.

Over the course of my lifetime, Christian philosophy has changed. Now a belief in God is not enough... the worship of Jesus comes to the fore and the person must specifically believe in Jesus. If you ask "will this sect get into heaven" you'll be told that anyone who believes in Jesus gets in heaven. Then if you ask "what about those who haven't heard of Jesus" you get told "well, those good people get into heaven." And if you ask "so what about the Jews?" you get two answers (Jews believing in Jesus are okay or Jews have a special dispensation)

And finally, if you ask "so a good person from another country (Ghandi is a good exmple) would get into heaven without being a Christian" and press the point about justice (Jeffrey Dahlmer, the cannibal killer, repented and became Christian before he was murdered in prison) then you get two answers: Only True Believers get in and Ghandi is roasting in hell -or- you get the"we don't know but maybe he conerted just at the instant he died" whch is sort of ridiculous, considering that he called on the Hindu God, Rama as he died.

Apologists have dealt with this before and haven't come to any complete conclusion, either.

Thanks for your input, you have a great wealth of knowledge on religous topics and your comments and opinions are very much appreciated.....I guess its one of those thing I may never get an answer to......maybe there is a reason us humans dont fully understand or comprehend the will of god. I know if I was in his shoes with the amount of responsibility and power he has and the things only he knows....it would probably drive us mortals mad hehehehe.

Here's what my christian buddy from two cubicles over had to say:

"Here's what I know. These comments are based upon the presumption that if you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, by that action alone, you are exempt from damnation. There are a number of verses that can be quoted regarding this. But that's not the whole story. The one that stands out the most to me is the following:

Jesus said, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!' " (Matthew 7:21-23)

So Jesus even acknowledges that many of those who've accepted Him and performed great deeds will be rejected. This is one of the great arguments against "works-based" faith. Volunteering at a homeless shelter and believing in Jesus does not give anyone a free pass to Heaven. As Christians, we are mandated to drop what it is we're doing as follow Him (Matthew 19:21-22).

Jesus came as a sacrifice for our sins--our council presenting our case before God. Indeed, He said that nodody comes to the Father but throught Him. But as the aforementioned verse says, He just might not take up your case unless you actively seek to do God's will here on Earth.

So to answer the question, in my opinion, those who came and went before Christ will not necessarily be condemned. They will just have to stand in front of God by themselves and explain away their actions with no council representing them. God will then make the decision Himself whether or not that person is worthy of Heaven."

somebody answer this for me if GOD is so loving why would he send people to hell for all of eternity??

Originally posted by don_don
somebody answer this for me if GOD is so loving why would he send people to hell for all of eternity??

Even God has a sense of humour.

I dont think you go to hell for all eternity (i believe it says this somewhere)

Also people who have been on "Deaths Door" and died say that they usualy get a life review or so ect (maby | its just a thought | they get re-incarnated if they were actualy tolable e.g not mass murdering, self serving peoples tryin 2 send everyone else down)

e.g people who dont follow god dont get anything (no hell or so) and get reincarnated backonto earth,

Where as people who have believed and tryed to follow god (spirutualy as in love, not physical e.g proving yourself at a church or doing good deeds for showing others ect) might get to go to heaven or send back re-incarnated to earth depending on gods view

Then its possible for people who exploit god, man and everyone else (and know that they are doing "bad" in general go to hell after a judgement where they can explain themselfs)

Thats what i believe, weather its true or not is a different matter, Guess we will all find out sooner or later along the line

It would show that god is both loving and mercyful (in my opinion) + gives freedom to believe or not without fear of being forced into it





[edit on 11-11-2004 by Crash]

[edit on 11-11-2004 by Crash]